12 



The Bulletin. 



Beown Theashee. 



Rufus brown above, except tbe tips of the wing covert, which are whitish. 

 Below the bird is white, streaked (except on the throat and belly) with black. 

 Length near 11 Va inches. 



Range. — Eastern United States ; breeds from Florida to Maine. 



AW— Composed of twigs, small roots, pieces of grapevine, or other similar 

 material, and lined with fine rootlets. It is placed in thickets, bushes, or, 

 rarely, on the ground. 



#0/7.s— Generally, four in number, the ground color of light gray, thickly 

 speckled, covered with brown. 



This has been a familiar bird with the most of us since our earliest 

 school days, when we heard the children recite the classic verses be- 

 ginning: "There's a merry Brown Thrush sitting up in the tree." 

 Although it is a comparatively common bird throughout the State in 



Brown Thrasher. 



(After Bcal, Farmers' Bulletin No. 5i, Office of Experiment Stations, U. S. Department 



of Agriculture.) 



summer, many individuals retire southward upon the approach of 

 cold weather, and it is probably very rare west of Raleigh during 

 the winter weather. I saw one at Chapel Hill January 2, 1899, 

 and the date would seem to indicate that it had taken up its abode 

 there for the winter. 



Being largely a ground-inhabiting species, the Brown Thrasher 

 naturally feeds upon a great many insects which can be gathered 

 there. They are known to destroy cutworms, cankerworms, and cater- 

 pillars of many kinds. Grasshoppers, crickets, grubs and beetles are 

 eaten. Dr. Sylvester Judd, of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture, has given an interesting summary of the contents of 121 



